Isaac Upole wins boys Player of the Year

Apr. 16—OAKLAND — If it weren't for the pandemic canceling last season, then Isaac Upole likely would've gone down as the second-leading scorer in Southern's history.

The adversity didn't end there. Upole battled shin splints for more than a month of his senior campaign, and the Rams struggled during the middle part of the season.

Yet, none of that mattered in the end. Upole got healthy, Southern got into a rhythm and the Rams were the last men standing after the West Region I championship.

After finishing as the area's leading scorer and rebounder, and the only player to average a double-double, Upole was voted Player of the Year by the area's head coaches.

"Isaac is one of the best players that I've coached at Southern High School," Southern head coach Tom Bosley said. "He could score the ball, he was a very good passer, averaged a double-double.

"He had no problem being in the key moments on the foul line. He wanted the ball late in games. His mentality, he does not want to lose. He's going to do whatever he can."

The Southern big man received eight of the 10 Player of the Year votes, with Mountain Ridge guard Nathaniel Washington snagging the other two.

Upole is the seventh Southern player to earn the honor and the first since Tyler Rodeheaver shared the award in 2018 with Allegany's Justin Copman. D.J Ritchie (2012), Dennis Tressler (2003), Brett Rice (1991 and '92), Scott Stem (1985) and Steve Liller (1978) have also won from Southern.

Upole finished his Southern career with more than 800 points in just two varsity seasons. During his senior year, he averaged 18.3 points, 10 rebounds, 2.4 assists and shot 71.8% from the free-throw line.

"It's an honor," said Upole, who is signed to West Virginia to play baseball. "It was a good season, I couldn't have done it without my teammates and coach Bosley."

While Upole possessed the obvious traits of a good big man, being able to finish with either hand and a knack for pounding the boards, his ability to break the press as a point forward set him apart.

That acumen took away from his scoring at times, like against Edmondson when the senior, playing a vital role in bringing the ball up the floor, was held to 13 points. Instead, Gabe Hebb stepped up with 20 and Tanner Haskiell chipped in 16 as the Rams nearly pulled off the massive road upset, falling 66-56.

A game prior, Upole hit the go-ahead runner in the lane early in overtime to put the finishing touches on a wild win at Mountain Ridge in the West Region I title game.

"When we got into the playoffs you could tell he started to play better," Bosley said. "He had a tough game against Mountain Ridge the first time we played them when he didn't have a good shooting night, but he did everything else well."

The opening Mountain Ridge matchup was the first evidence of Upole's shin splints, and the Miners limited the Southern senior to just seven points although the Rams won in double overtime.

He got healthy just in time for Southern to pull off back-to-back road upsets over Allegany — which swept the Rams during the regular season — and Mountain Ridge to take the region crown.

Before his physical struggles, Upole looked nearly unstoppable, like during the Southern Snowball Classic when he scored 50 points and grabbed 27 rebounds over two games against Uniontown and Thomas Jefferson, both wins.

"It was tough," Upole said. "We had a tough schedule, battling shin splints in practices. I just had to battle through it and do it for the team."

Finishing as the top dogs in the area, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic prevented public schools in Maryland from competing during the 2020-21 season, likely means more to Upole than any individual accolade.

"It was definitely special because it would've been about the same group last year," Upole said. "We started off a little behind, as everyone did, but we picked it up at the end."

Alex Rychwalski is a sports reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @arychwal.